Is the Ratio of Retracted Iranian Papers Compatible With Their Research Growth Rate? An International Database Survey

Retraction of articles occurs as a result of scientific misconducts or honest errors.

This study aimed to identify the frequency of retracted Iranian publications, compared to those of other countries and adjust them with influential parameters.

All publications that were indexed on the Scopus database from 2008 to 2017 and then retracted, due to scientific misconduct were extracted through the Retraction Watch database and selected as the research community. To calculate the growth of retraction for each proposed country (or region), first, the rate of an absolute number of retracted papers for the years 2013-2017 was divided by the similar number for years 2008-2012, then this rate was adjusted to the retracted rate which is similarly computed for the total retracted statistics of the world.

Overall, 545 Iranian retracted publications from 2008 to 2017 were identified, of which 240 and 305 retracted articles were related to the first five years and the second five years of the study, respectively. The results showed that less than 1% (0.82) of all scientific articles published by Iranian researchers were retracted. However, the rate of retracted scientific articles in Iran compared to this rate in the world was significantly higher.

Although retracted Iranian publications make up a small percentage of all Iranian publications, the number of retracted publications is increasing. It is important to recognize the reasons for scientific misconducts and to provide researchers with proper education.